Hanoi Cafe

Should you find yourself mooching around the central city and in need of a quick bite to eat, Hanoi Eatery, which is open every day of the week for both lunch and dinner, is a terrific place to stop. The menu here is excellent standard-issue Vietnamese material. Steaming bowls of rice noodles submerged in magical cure-all broths: phở with strips of rare beef or beef balls or pork, and some soups that involve fried fish fillets and dill, or pieces of duck and bamboo shoots. Bánh mì with chicken, pork or egg. Small heaps of rice beside varying proteins, some lightly grilled and others deeply caramelised and sticky. Coiled piles of vermicelli accompanied by things like fried spring rolls and pork ribs, with a small dish of tangy nuoc cham to tie the flavours together. This is all to say, there’s many wondrous directions a meal can take here, so trust your gut — you can’t go wrong.